How can we help?How can we help?

So what is Stub, exactly?

A drawer for your movie tickets. Every time you see a film, you keep the stub, and Stub prints you a card for that film that nobody else has. Give it a few months and you’ve got a proper little collection: every film you’ve seen, where, when, and who you went with.

Keeping tickets is free, and always will be.

Can I get Stub yet?

If there’s a seat. Stub’s first run is a hundred seats on TestFlight, Apple’s app for trying apps before they reach the App Store, open until Sunday 29 November. It’s free. Here’s how to join, and how to tell us what you think from inside the app.

Got a paper ticket?

This is Stub’s favourite thing.

1. Tap Keep a stub at the bottom of your drawer. The camera opens.
2. Lay the ticket flat and line it up inside the four marks. In a dark cinema, tap the torch up top.
3. When the marks turn orange (you’ll feel a little tap), they’ve got it. Take the photo.
4. Stub reads the film, cinema, night, screen and seat. Have a quick look, fix anything that’s off, and tap Keep it.

Box office receipts and those long skinny ones from a self-serve kiosk work too. Really faded thermal tickets can be a bit hit and miss, so give the date a once-over before you keep.

Booked online?

Most cinemas send you an email, a PDF or a pass for Apple Wallet. Any of those can go into Stub:

• A PDF ticket in your email: open it, tap Share, and choose Stub.
• A Wallet pass: share it from Wallet and choose Stub.
• A screenshot of the ticket or the booking: share it from Photos, or tap Keep a stub, then Photos, and pick it.
• The booking email itself: select its words, tap Share, and choose Stub. Handy when there’s no PDF attached.

From the share sheet, tap Send to Stub. It’s waiting for you, ready to keep, next time you open Stub.

Heads up: some booking emails and apps don’t print everything (some cinemas only give out your screen on the day, for one). Stub leaves out what it can’t see rather than make it up. There’s more on that under What works.

Lost the ticket, or never had one?

No stress. Tap Keep a stub, then Type it in, and fill in the film and the night. It still gets its own card, same as every other one.

Got a shoebox of old tickets?

Bring the lot in. Stub doesn’t mind how old they are: a ticket from 2009 gets filed in 2009, and your year fills in as you go. Settle in with a cuppa and do a few at a time.

Book online a lot? Turn on Films in my Calendar.

Book in Stub and the night goes in your calendar by itself, from the session’s time to the film’s end, with your seats. If your cinema’s email put it there already, it isn’t added twice.

Booked somewhere else? When your cinema’s booking adds the night to your calendar, Stub spots it. It shows up in your drawer under Coming up, and about twenty minutes after the film ends Stub sends you a note: “The film’s over. Keep the stub for Clayface while it’s in your hand.” Notifications off, or missed it? The drawer asks you about it for the next day and a half.

Your calendar is read and written on your phone and never goes anywhere else. Turn it on in Your card › Push notifications › Films in my Calendar.

What’s an Add to Stub link?

A link a cinema can put in its booking email. Tap it and the ticket lands in your drawer, already filled in. No screenshots, no typing.

We’ve built it, but no cinema has switched it on yet. Want your local to? The first time you keep one of their tickets from a pass, a PDF or a screenshot, Stub offers to ask them for you.

Paper tickets and box office receipts

Works

From the big chains to your local indie, printed tickets, box office receipts and kiosk slips all go in. The reader gets better at each cinema’s layout with every update.

PDF tickets

Works

The text inside the PDF is read straight off, so these are usually spot on.

Wallet passes

Works, minus the price

Film, cinema, night, screen and seat come through fine. Passes don’t print what you paid, so the price stays blank. Add it yourself with Correct what it says if you want it counted in your year.

Bookings that don’t say which screen

Works, minus the screen

Some cinemas only give out your screen on the day, when you pick up your ticket or check in, so the booking doesn’t have it yet. Stub leaves the screen empty (it says Not printed). Pop it in once you know.

Screenshots of a booking

Usually works

Stub reads the whole screenshot. A ticket page or a booking email mostly comes out right. A busy screen, with buttons, offers and menus around the ticket, can trip it up, so check it before you keep.

One tap from your cinema’s email

Not yet

The Add to Stub link is built and waiting for cinemas to switch it on.

Pulling in your old bookings from a cinema account

Not yet

Cinemas don’t let other apps read your booking history. For now it’s one ticket at a time (see the shoebox).

Bringing in your Letterboxd diary

Your watchlist only

Your watchlist comes in as films on your list. The diary is on the list for after launch.

Session times at every cinema in Plan a night

Some cinemas

Stub shows session times for the cinemas that share them (here’s who does). Every other cinema still shows up, just without times. Plan the night there anyway and type the time in yourself.

Booking together, with seats

When you’re all signed in

Who’s booking and everyone’s seats show on the plan for everyone signed in to Stub. Signed out, the plan still books, just for you. Here’s how it works.

Android, iPad, a web version

Not yet

Stub is an iPhone app. Mates without it can open your plan’s link on the web, see who’s in, and answer with their first name. To keep their ticket, they’ll need Stub on an iPhone.

Something else not working?

Tell us. And if there’s something you wish Stub did, put it on the workshop table, where you can see what everyone else is asking for too.

It read something wrong.

Happens. Open the stub and tap Correct what it says, fix what’s off, and tap Keep the changes. Its card, drawers and signature stay exactly as they are.

Spotted it while you were keeping it? Just change the field before you tap Keep it.

Something’s blank.

That’s on purpose. Stub fills in what the ticket prints and what the cinema’s own session times back up, and leaves the rest empty rather than guess. A wrong guess sits in your drawer for years, and a gap is easy to fill. Add it with Correct what it says.

It says Not a film ticket.

Stub’s reader turns away things that aren’t movie tickets, like a parking receipt or a concert ticket. If it’s got it wrong, tap It’s a film. Keep it. If it was a film it just couldn’t read, try Photograph a film ticket again in better light, or Type it in.

Kept the same ticket twice.

Stub usually catches this and says “This ticket is already in your drawer.” If one sneaks through, hold the stub and choose Throw away, or tap Throw this stub away on its page. You’ve got a few seconds to hit Undo if you change your mind.

Help Stub get better.

When you correct a ticket while you’re keeping it, Stub may offer Send its layout. That sends us where things sit on the ticket, with your details blanked out, so we can teach Stub that cinema’s tickets in a later update. Totally optional, and only when you tap.

Every film gets its own card.

When you keep a stub, Stub prints a card for that film: its colours and a scene from its world, printed just for your copy. No two are alike, even for the same film. Once it’s printed it’s yours for good. It never changes, even if we update the designs.

Turn it over.

Tap a card to flip it. The front belongs to the film. The back is yours: the ticket itself, the night, who you went with, and your signature.

Make it yours at the press.

Touch and hold a card to take it to the press. Play with its inks, its paper stock and its type, overprint it, stamp it, then pull the lever to keep your proof. Mucked it up? Undo and Redo are right there, and Back to the original takes it right back.

Your signature.

Sign once on Your card and it goes on the back of every card you keep. Want one card signed differently? Turn it over and sign that one on its own.

A photo from the night.

On a stub’s page, tap Add a photo from the night. The foyer, the popcorn, the mates: it goes on the back of the card.

Seeing a film again?

Keep the stub like normal. Stub knows it’s a second viewing (or a fifth, no judgement) and punches the card once for each time.

Showing it off.

On a stub’s page, tap Share for a clip of the card turning, made for a message or your story, or a still of it.

Make your own drawers.

Swipe along the brass labels at the top of the drawer to the blank one, and tap Name a new drawer. A festival, date nights, everything Nolan, the films you saw with your dad. A stub can sit in as many drawers as you like, and it always stays in Every stub too.

Filing a stub.

Open the stub and tap File in a drawer. Or pick a card up off the table and drop it on a drawer’s label. Or open a drawer you’ve made and tap the list beside its year to choose its stubs.

Renaming a drawer, or taking it out.

Touch and hold its label for Rename, Choose stubs, or Take the drawer out. Taking a drawer out never throws away its stubs. They’re still in Every stub.

Your year at a glance.

Tap a drawer’s brass label to see its season: how many films and cinemas, what you paid (only from tickets that printed a price), your busiest month and day, who you go with most, how many nights you sat in the front row, and every night sitting on a little shelf. Tap a night to see what it was, then tap its card to open the stub. Tap anywhere else to put it back down.

Your nights as a diary.

Your card › Diary: every stub you’ve kept, a page a month, newest first. Each night’s date is stamped in the margin, with its ticket taped beside it. Tap a night to open its stub. Your drawer stays just as it is.

What’s Plan a night?

The easy way to get a group to the movies. Tap Plan a night at the top of your drawer, scroll what’s on near you or use Search films, and pick a film. Its page has the trailer and every session by day. Pick one and tap Plan it, or Plan it by hand if you’ve already got a night in mind. Then send it to your mates, and Stub keeps track of who’s in.

Films you want to see.

Hold a poster in Plan a night, or open the film, and tap Pencil it in. It goes at the top of the wall when it’s on near you. Stub tells you, at most once a day, when it opens near you and when its last session is coming up, and tapping the note opens the film on that session. Your list stays on your phone and in your iCloud.

Coming from Letterboxd? With an empty list, tap Bring in your Letterboxd watchlist (or Your card › Advanced). Export your data on Letterboxd’s website, come back, and choose the ZIP it saves. Stub reads only the watchlist, on your phone, and shows you which films are on near you before you pencil them in. Export your list, on the same page, gives it back as a spreadsheet Letterboxd can read.

Which cinemas show their sessions?

Wherever you are, Stub finds the cinemas near you. Where a cinema shares its session times, you just pick one. Where it doesn’t, you plan the night by hand and pop the time in.

Right now the times come from every Event in New Zealand and Australia, and every Hoyts in New Zealand. Then Rialto in Auckland and Dunedin, and in Auckland the Academy, the Bridgeway, the Vic, the Lido and the Hollywood. In Christchurch, Alice and Lumiere. More as they come on.

Seeing cinemas miles away?

Stub lists the cinemas near you first, then any within a drive. Turn on Your card › Advanced › Use my location, or pick your town at the top of Plan a night.

Booking the tickets.

Tap Book tickets on the plan and that session opens on the cinema’s own booking page, right inside Stub, with your night along the bottom. You pick seats and pay the cinema like you normally would. Stub never takes your money or sees your card. When the cinema shows its confirmation, Stub reads your seats off it and stamps the plan Booked by itself. Going with mates? See booking together.

Asking your mates.

Tap Send the plan and send it by text, WhatsApp, or however your crew talks, then tell Stub who it went to under Sent. Who to? Friends on Stub get it right in the app, one tap each. Mates without Stub open the link on the web and answer there with their first name, no app needed. Their answer reaches you when you’re signed in (Your card › Account).

When they answer.

They tap I’m in, Can’t make it, Another time or Another film. It lands on your plan by itself, and everyone who’s in can see who else is. If someone asks for another night, the plan says so up top with Take it. Stub sends everyone a note two hours before, and another when the film’s over.

Where things are at.

Under the ticket, one line tells you where the night stands, with a dot: “Waiting on Pete and Mere.”, “Pete’s in. Who’s booking?”, “Bruno’s booking for everyone.”, “Everyone’s booked.” Your mates see the same night in their own words. Under it is the one thing to do next, if there is one.

Moving the plan to another night.

Tap Take it on the night someone asked for. The plan moves on everyone’s phone straight away, and they get a note. Whoever asked for that night is in. Anyone who said yes to the old night is asked again: “Moved to Monday at 18:00. Still in?” Nothing to send. Took it by mistake? Undo moves it back for everyone too. Only the person who made the plan can move it.

Opened an old link?

If the plan’s moved since the link was sent, Stub opens it on the night it’s on now, not the one in the link.

Sent it to Pete, and Big Dog answered?

Same mate. Each time you send a plan, its link gets a key of its own, and you tell Stub who it went to under Sent. Who to? Whoever answers from that link takes their spot, under the name they go by on Stub, with yours for them underneath: Big Dog, Your friend Pete. Next plan, Stub knows that account is Pete. Sent one link to a group chat? Tap … beside the new name and pick who they are.

A few more ways it goes. Skipped Sent. Who to?? Whoever answers shows up under their own name, and you can still tap … to match them up. Your mate passed the link on to someone else? Once your mate has answered, the next person shows up as themselves, not as your mate. Not signed in? The link still knows who it went to, Stub just can’t remember their account for next time.

Can we chat in the plan?

Not yet, sorry. A proper group chat needs reporting and blocking to keep everyone safe, and we’d rather get that right than rush it. For now, plans, answers and halves each come with a note.

Who’s booking?

As soon as a mate is in, the plan asks “Who’s booking?” with two buttons: I’ll book, and you’re getting tickets for everyone, or Book separately, and you each grab your own. Whatever gets tapped, everyone on the plan sees it within seconds, so nobody doubles up and nobody’s left thinking someone else has it sorted. If someone’s asked for another night, the plan sorts that out first.

One of you books for everyone.

Tap I’ll book. Your plan says “You’re booking for 3.” and your mates’ say “Bruno’s booking for everyone.” Tap Book 3 tickets, buy them on the cinema’s page, and the moment the cinema confirms, everyone’s plan says “Bruno booked F12–14 for everyone.”, the ticket gets its Booked stamp and every seat turns navy. Two of you tapped I’ll book? The last tap counts, and the plan says whose it is.

You each book your own.

Tap Book separately and everyone sees “Everyone books their own.” The first to book shows up for everyone else as “Mere’s in F12. Book next to them.”, so you can grab the seat right next door. Once you’ve booked, the plan says who’s still to book: “You’re in F13. Tom still to book.” When everyone has: “Everyone’s booked.”

How does Stub know I booked?

When you book through the plan, the cinema’s page opens inside Stub. When the cinema shows its confirmation page (“Booking confirmed”, your booking number, your seats), Stub reads that page, and only that page, on your phone. It knows Event’s, Rialto’s and Hoyts’ confirmation pages, and at the independents it reads the page their site shows after you pay. It has to name the film and your session’s time, so a booking for another session doesn’t count. The bottom of the page then says “Booked. F12–13.” and the plan is booked, with your seats, for everyone. Tap Back to the plan. Your booking number stays on your phone, for the stub after the film.

Booked, but Stub didn’t notice?

Some cinemas’ confirmation pages don’t say it in a way Stub can read yet. Tap I’ve booked at the bottom of the page, or Yes, I booked when the plan asks Did you book?, and put your seats in. Same result.

The cinema’s page won’t open?

Stub says so, and that nothing’s been booked. Tap Try again once you’ve got signal, or Open in Safari. Back on the plan it asks whether you booked.

Leaving the booking page.

Done, or a swipe down, always takes you back to the plan, never out of it. If Stub didn’t see a booking, the plan asks Did you book?: Yes, I booked asks for your seats, Not yet leaves Book tickets right where it was.

Paying with a saved card.

iPhone only fills your saved cards in Safari, so a cinema’s page inside Stub can’t offer them. Tap … at the top of the booking page, then Pay with a saved card. The cinema’s page opens again in Safari’s own view, still inside Stub, with your saved cards and Apple Pay. Stub remembers that cinema, so next time Book tickets goes straight there. Hold Book tickets to switch back.

Stub’s button in Safari.

In Safari’s view there’s a ticket button in the toolbar. Tap it on the cinema’s confirmation page and Stub reads it, on your phone: your plan is booked, with your seats, for everyone. Tapped it too early? It asks you to tap again once the page has loaded. Then tap the tick to come back to the plan.

Booked in the Safari app?

On the confirmation page, tap Share, then Stub. The plan is booked when you come back. Forgot? When you come back to Stub within a few hours, it opens the plan you were booking and asks Did you book?, so you’re right where you left off.

Apple Pay.

If the cinema takes Apple Pay, its button is on its page inside Stub, as it is in Safari. If it doesn’t appear for you, Pay with a saved card opens Safari’s view, where Apple Pay always works.

Add to Apple Wallet.

If the cinema offers its ticket for Wallet on the booking page, tap it as usual. It goes into Wallet, and Stub reads your seats off it too.

Putting your seats in.

Booked by hand? Stub asks Which seats? Type them like your ticket shows them: F12, F12 F13, F12-14, D3 & E3, or Row F Seats 12-13. Up to ten. A seat needs a row and a number, so if yours is just a number, a couch or a free-for-all, tap Skip. You’re still booked. Got them wrong? Tap Change your seats.

Tapped Booked by mistake?

Tap I haven’t booked, next to your seats. Booked comes off for everyone, Book tickets is back, and Undo puts it back if you change your mind. The same if a booking falls through.

Booked in the cinema’s app, or at the counter?

Tap I’ve booked on the plan and put your seats in. Same result as booking through the plan.

Changed your mind about who’s booking?

Easy, as long as nobody’s booked yet. Anyone on the plan can switch it: Book separately if someone said they’d book, or I’ll book if it’s each to their own. Once someone has actually booked, it sticks, because the tickets are real. Sort out the rest with your mates and the cinema.

Can’t see Who’s booking?

A few reasons it might not be there yet:

Nobody’s in yet. It shows once someone besides you is in: a mate has said I’m in to your plan, or you’ve said it to theirs.

Someone asked for another night. The plan asks you to settle the night first: Take it, or leave it and book the night you planned.

Someone’s not signed in. Booking together goes through Stub, so it needs each of you signed in (Your card › Account). Signed out, the plan still books, just for you, kept on your phone.

A mate doesn’t have Stub. They can answer on the web, but they can’t see who’s booking, so give them a shout yourself.

The film’s over. Then the plan asks you to keep the stub instead.

The plan moved to another night after someone booked.

A booking belongs to the night it was made for. Move the plan and the old bookings drop off the seats, Book tickets comes back, and the plan’s ready to book the new night. Tickets already bought for the old night are between you and the cinema: Stub can’t swap or refund them.

Booked, and now you can’t go?

Tap Not going any more on the plan. Your tickets are still yours at the cinema, so let your mates know, or pass your seat on. What you said about booking stays on the plan until the film’s over.

Will my mates know?

Yep. When the plan moves, someone books, or someone says who’s booking, everyone else on the plan gets a note, seats and all: “Booked: F12, F13”. Answers go to whoever made the plan. That’s anyone who’s answered on Stub and hasn’t turned off From friends in Your card › Push notifications. With the plan open, it updates by itself within seconds.

It says “Booked” didn’t send.

Your phone couldn’t reach Stub just then. Tap Try again once you’ve got signal, and your seats go with it. If it says “That’s enough for one night.”, you’ve said twenty things on this plan, which is the limit.

What the seats on a plan mean.

Each person on the plan is a little cinema seat. Black: they’re in. Navy: they’ve booked, with their seat number on it if they booked their own. Orange outline: they’d rather another night. Dotted: they haven’t answered yet. Folded up, like an empty cinema seat: they can’t make it.

After the film: which seat was yours?

If one of you booked for everyone, Stub keeps the seats. When you keep your stub after the film, it asks Which was yours? with a button for each seat. The same when a mate sends you your half from a ticket with everyone’s seats on it.

Who can see our plan?

Only the people on it. The night, who’s in, who’s booking and your seats are kept on Stub’s server until the film’s over, then they’re gone. Stub never sees what you paid or your card: that all happens on the cinema’s own page, and Stub reads only its confirmation, on your phone. More on the privacy page.

How do you become friends on Stub?

When someone on Stub opens a plan or a half you sent them, you’re friends. That’s it. No requests, no following, no followers.

Send their half.

Went with someone? On the stub’s page, add who you went with, then tap Send their half. They keep their own copy of the night, and once they do, both cards are a matching pair.

A friend’s page.

Your card › Friends, then tap a friend. You’ll see the nights you’ve had together, any coming up, and Plan a night with them, which opens a new plan with them first in line to ask.

Taking someone off.

Open their page and tap Take them off your friends. Plans and halves go to them as plain links again. Nights you kept together stay right where they are.

Where do my stubs live?

On your iPhone, and in the iCloud your iPhone is signed in to, whatever email you use for Stub. Your card › Kept safe tells you where things are right now, warns you if your drawer is only on this phone, and has the Keep in iCloud switch if you ever want it off iCloud.

Got a new iPhone?

Sign in with the same Apple Account, open Stub, and your drawer comes back. Give it a minute if you’ve got heaps of stubs. A different Apple Account? Sign in to Stub and tap Bring them back: your nights come back from your account as tickets, without their photos.

A copy of everything.

Your card › Advanced › Export as a spreadsheet: every film, cinema, night, seat and price, ready to open in Numbers, Excel or Google Sheets. It’s your data; take it anywhere.

The only thing you can buy.

Ten more app icons, yours for good on every iPhone with your Apple Account. One payment, no subscription, no ads. It’s how you help keep Stub going, if you’d like to.

Bought them, but they’re locked on this iPhone?

Your card › App icon › Restore purchase.

Why do I need to sign in?

So plans and halves can reach your friends inside Stub, and so your friends and nights come with you to a new phone. Stub asks for Apple, Google or your email when you first open it. If our server can’t be reached, Stub opens anyway and asks you next time.

Signed in with the wrong account?

Nothing’s lost, promise. Your stubs are on your phone, never in the account. Your card › Account › Sign out, then sign in the other way. The sign-in shows you the account last used on your phone, so you can tell which one you had.

Ended up with two accounts?

Make them one. Your card › Account › Bring in another account, then sign in to the other one once more. Its friends, nights and drawers kept together move across to the account you’re in, and signing in the old way opens this one from then on. Your stubs don’t need to move: they’re already on your phone.

Deleting your account.

Your card › Account › Delete account. It’s gone straight away, with your friends and nights on our server. Your drawer stays on your phone and in your iCloud. Here’s exactly what Stub keeps.

Orange or black.

Your card › Colour: Keep a stub and Stub’s other buttons and marks in orange, or in black. Nothing else changes.

A card on your Home Screen.

Add Stub’s widget, The drawer, to your Home Screen or Lock Screen. It shows one of your cards. Tap Turn to flip it, or Another for a different one. On a card’s anniversary it shows “A year ago today”.

Straight to the camera.

Add Keep a stub to Control Center, and you can keep a ticket without even finding the app.

Ask Siri.

Try “Keep a stub in Stub”, “Plan a night in Stub”, “How many films this year in Stub”, “Pencil a film in with Stub” or “What’s on my list near me in Stub”. They’re all in Your card › Siri Shortcuts, ready for your own shortcuts.

Find a stub from Search.

Swipe down on your Home Screen and type a film, a cinema or a year. Your stubs show up right there, found on your phone and nowhere else.

On your lock screen.

Your card › Push notifications: before a plan, after the film, from friends, films on your list, and Films in my Calendar. Each one’s on until you turn it off.

By email.

Your card › Email notifications: what’s on, what’s new in Stub, and offers. Switch off any you don’t want. Sign-in codes aren’t a choice, but that’s all they are.

Signed in with Apple and kept your email hidden? Tap Add your email, type it in, then the six-figure code we send to it. Your news goes there from then on.

Something went weird?

Your card › Send logs, and tell us what happened. We see what Stub saw, never your stubs or your photos.

On the beta? Take a screenshot, tap it, and choose Share Beta Feedback. It comes straight to us.

Built in, not bolted on.

Stub works with VoiceOver, Larger Text all the way up, Reduce Motion, Increase Contrast and Dark Mode. We test every screen at the largest text size and in high contrast, and VoiceOver reads each stub as its film, night, cinema and seat.

Something getting in your way?

Write to us and tell us what you use. We’ll fix it.